Nearly 400 members of emergency response teams, Uruguayan and U.S. military and volunteers participated in a simulated accident to gauge the preparedness of emergency services in Uruguay.

The exercise, staged by the National Emergencies System of the Presidency of the Republic and the Health Management Institute of the U.S. Department of Defense, was organized through the Office of Defense Cooperation of the U.S. Embassy. Montevideo Mayor Mariano Arana, Minister of the Interior Guillermo Stirling and Congressman Gustavo Penades, along with high-ranking military officials, came to watch the exercise. The event was heavily covered by Uruguayan media.

The “accident,” began with smoke rising from a truck and bus that were placed in a position to simulate a head-on collision on a road near the Charrua Stadium. Volunteers, from the U.S. Embassy community, the Uruguayan American School, Montevideo Players Society and various other organizations, were made up with fake blood, peeling skin and bruises to look like realistic accident victims. They were “trapped” in the bus or sprawled out on the street. An emergency call was placed and fire engines arrived at the scene within minutes, followed closely by teams prepared to deal with hazardous materials that could endanger the surrounding area.

The purpose of the exercise was to test the Plan of Response to Emergencies with Hazardous Substances in National Highways and Department Roads, which includes numerous organizations and agencies. The drill offered the opportunity to enact the guidelines of the Plan of Sanitary Response to multicasualty accidents and/or disasters in the entire national territory. This plan is currently in the stage of preparation and final evaluation.

The U.S. specialized team participating in the exercise included Capt. Timothy Tyre, Psychologist and Specialist in Behavior, Evaluation and Operations, LCDR Kimberley Marshall, Chief of the Department of Evaluation and TriCare Analysis, Col. José Morales, Chief of Medical Evacuations of Scott Air Force Base and specialist Reynold Garcia.

Tyre, who plans to file a full report on the emergency response, said his initial reaction is that Uruguay has an adequate system in place to handle such a disaster.

“This is a very big disaster, with an unknown toxic agent,” Tyre said. “I’m very impressed with the way the fire department got here, set up a perimeter, stopped the leak of the toxic agents, determined what the leak was before they just rushed in. Sometimes you can make victims sicker if you don’t understand what the agent is.”

Tyre said the emergency response teams also performed well in setting up a command center, tracking the cases and moving them to the hospitals.
“Great credit is to be given to the national emergency system which is trying to become better and better, “ he said. “This is how you do it. You do big drills like this. Certain things work perfect, but not everything. We’re going to study this and make additional comments after we carefully look at all this.”

Commander Vince Lambert, who coordinated the event through the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy, said similar exercises have been executed in 40 countries and the United States. The first stage of the exercise for Uruguay was carried out last year in a workshop organized and attended by the team of U.S. specialists and the below organizations and agencies.

- Ministry of Public Health Hospitals (Maciel, Pasteur, Pereira Rossell, SS.A.E. Ambulances). HMOs: (Asociación Española, CASMU, British Hospital), emergency medical assistance systems (UCM, SUAT, SEMM), University’s Hospital de Clínicas.
- Ministry of the Interior (National Fire Department, National Highway Patrol, National Police Health Directorate and Montevideo Police Department).
- Ministry of Defense (Armed Forces and National Armed Forces Health Directorate);
- Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (National Transportation Directorate);
- Ministry of Housing, Land Use Planning and Environment (National Environment Directorate);
- Municipality of Montevideo;
- Montevideo Emergencies Committee;
- Red Cross

 

 

.

Tim Tyre, of the Department of Defense's specialized team, applies fake blood and bruises to Micah Kagler, UAS student volunteer.	Red Cross workers evaluate response by Uruguayan emergency workers in emergency drill.
Volunteer "victims" in bus involved in staged accident.	Rescuers helps volunteer "victim" to safety.
Volunteer "victim" is decontaminated and prepared for transport to hospital.	Hazardous materials response team aids truck driver in staged accident.
Tyre speaks to media about Uruguay's emergency preparedness.	CMDR Vince Lambert, Office of Defense Cooperation of the U.S. Embassy, speaks to media representative.
From left:Police with Mayor Mariano Arana and Minister of the Interior Guillermo Stirling	Emergency workers transport volunteer "victim" to hospital.

 

Return to Home l Back